At double the price of the Troy-Bilt “Big Red” Horse, the top-of-the-line professional series BCS 948 walking tractor is quite the market garden machine. I haven’t tried or even seen one of these, but I’d love to. BCS is the biggest of the European 2-wheel tractor manufacturers. They have a full line, including a Horse equivalent. The walking tractor is an order above the North American big rototiller, they’re built as full-on agricultural equipment. The 948 is a true small-scale tractor, the difference found in the engineering, construction, and range of add-on implements. On this tiny farm, the Horse and the Kubota compact tractor cover the BCS from either side, to get an even wider range of smaller to larger jobs done, but the 948 could replace both for all of the most critical market gardening tasks, like tilling, cultivating and clean-up for several acres.

The Troy-Bilt Horse walking rototiller is a machine to swear by. I’ve had mine for four years and it’s gone through a lot. I bought a mid-1990s model, used, in mint condition. For a couple of seasons, it was the main tiller on two acres of market garden. I’d sometimes run it non-stop for an hour or more at a time, and for the better part of a day. No problems to date.